Bearers of the Key: Love's Awakening
by MeXVen4ever
Summary: A new apprentice joins the Land of Departure crew. I'm bad at summaries, but the actual fic is coming along really well so far. Pre-Birth by Sleep. Rated T just to be on the safe side. VenxOC. Hints of TerraxAqua.
1. Prologue: The Pink Apprentice

_**Title: **_Prologue: The Pink Apprentice

_**Warnings: **_Some minor Birth by Sleep spoilers, but seeing as it's pre-BBS, there shouldn't be too many. Hey, I can't catch everything. Also, being pre-BBS, like probably two months or so, there _may_ be certain parts that make Ven seem a bit younger.

_**Special Notes: **_Thank you so much to Divine Wolfe, even though she may not realize it. Just by reading her Disciples of the Keyblade story I have gotten a lot better at making them not too OOC-ish, in my opinion.

The Land of Departure was home to some of the remaining few Keyblade wielders left in existence. With its radiant gardens, tall mountainous spires, and gold chains connecting it all to the large white castle, it was a truly beautiful world. In this peaceful land a Master and his three apprentices made their living.

Aqua lounged casually on one of the benches in the gardens, gazing up at the few wisps of cloud in the practically clear azure sky. Ventus lay on his back on the ground, arms behind his head-asleep-no doubt; and the eldest of the three, Terra, leaned back while sitting on a low wall.

"I wonder why we don't have a lesson today," Aqua voiced.

"The Master said he had some important business to attend to," Ventus replied. _So he wasn't asleep then_, Aqua thought.

"Something to do with Keybearers," Terra told them. "I'm not quite sure what, though."

Aqua sat up straight. "Keybearers? As in more than one?"

Terra shook his head. "I'm not sure. Although probably only one. There aren't many left, you know." Many years ago a Keyblade War had raged, with many wielders vying for the ultimate power of Kingdom Hearts. Not all the bearers had joined in, but almost every one that had was now dead. The Keyblade had not chosen many others since then, and most were reluctant to pass on the ability to wield, in case another War was started from it.

Ventus stood up suddenly. "I'm getting kind of hungry," he said. "Can we go back for dinner?"

Aqua ruffled his hair as she got up from her seated position. "Sure Ven. How about I make us something? I found a new recipe in the library I want to try out."

Ven practically jumped for joy. "Yeah!" he cheered.

Terra stood and followed them back towards the castle, chuckling at the youngest apprentice's enthusiasm.

After the three had finished eating, they were about to head back to their rooms to rest when Master Eraqus walked through the entrance to the castle. Noticing his pupils halfway up the stairs, he held out a hand to stop them. "Terra, Aqua, Ventus, come here a moment," he ordered, though in a kind voice.

The apprentices slowly walked over, bowing low at the waist. "Master," they chimed in unison.

Eraqus smiled faintly at his students. "I'd like the three of you to meet Hana," he said. "She will be training with you from now on."

Ventus craned his neck around. A small girl, about the same age as him, perhaps younger, was hiding behind Eraqus, clutching the Master's cloak as she peeked at the others with cerulean blue eyes through her curly white-blonde hair. She was wearing a strapless hot-pink ruffle top, a black pleated skirt, black stockings, metallic silver boots, and pale pink bell sleeves that were split open about halfway down to let them dangle off her arms. Determined to get a better look at her face, seeing as it was covered by her hair, Ven craned his neck even more, so much that he almost fell over, but Aqua grabbed him in time and he was able to regain his balance.

Eraqus nodded encouragingly at Hana, gently propelling her out from behind him and towards his other pupils. "Hana's former Master recently passed away," he told them, "and I have decided to finish her training. She can use a Keyblade, but the trauma has given her temporary amnesia, and she can not remember anything about her past."

_Just like Ven, _Terra thought.

Aqua bent down to be at the young girl's eye level and brushed Hana's messy bangs out of her eyes. At the mention of her previous master, the newest Keyblade Disciple's eyes teared up slightly.

Eraqus cleared his throat. "Hana will occupy the room next to Ventus'," he commanded. "I ask that you all make her feel at home here, and help keep her from getting lost. We will commence training tomorrow morning. I expect the four of you up bright and early in the Training Room at five o'clock."

Ventus groaned as they walked upstairs. He was not a morning person. After saying goodnight to Terra and Aqua, and watching them go to their rooms for the rest of the night, he stopped between his and Hana's bedroom doors and then turned to her. "So," he mumbled casually, "you apprenticed before? What was your Master's name?"

Hana cast her eyes at the floor. After a seemingly endless silence, which in reality Ven suspected was only a few seconds, she pushed open the door to her room, walked inside, and quietly shut it in his face.

_Okay,_ he thought to himself as he walked into his own bedroom, _not much of a talker._

_**Alright, hope you enjoyed my little teaser!**_

_**This is my very first Kingdom Hearts fic, and the very first fic I've made that I'm actually super proud of and will definitely finish/not ditch. So therefore **_flaming will not be tolerated, appreciated, or put up with._** Constructive criticism is welcome, as are suggestions for future chapters. Who knows, I may even put one of your ideas into this. **_

_**Please review! That really makes me happy.**_


	2. Speed

_**Title: **_Speed

_**Warnings: **_Some minor Birth by Sleep spoilers, but seeing as it's pre-BBS, there shouldn't be too many. Hey, I can't catch everything. Also, being pre-BBS, like probably two months or so, there _may_ be certain parts that make Ven seem a bit young. Also, minor amounts of blood and injuries. Nothing to worry about though.

_**Special Notes: **_Thank you so much to Divine Wolfe, even though she may not realize it. Just by reading her Disciples of the Keyblade story I have gotten a lot better at making them not too OOC-ish, in my opinion.

The four Keyblade apprentices stood at attention in the grand Training Room, listening to Eraqus's usual morning speech. Ven stifled a yawn. It was way too early to be awake, even if they were only meditating for the time being. No, the actual training wouldn't come for another hour or two.

"And therefore," the Master continued, "I asked my good friend Master Yen Sid to make this." He gently tossed a piece of armor to Hana, who caught it in surprise.

It was shaped almost identically to the two pieces of armor Aqua wore over her upper arms, except there was only the one. And, where Aqua's arm guards each had a round yellow stone set into the upper portion of them, the gem on Hana's was a dusty rose-pink. She secured it onto her arm curiously.

Ven smiled at her, and she turned her head slightly to let a curtain of hair fall in between the two of them. He turned crestfallen, and Terra chuckled.

"It's okay," Aqua murmured to him once Eraqus had left the room. They were seated on the ground, about to start their meditation. "She's just shy, that's all."

Ven wiggled about on the floor, adjusting his position time and time again. "I can't get comfortable," he complained.

Terra snickered into his palm, then resumed his utter stillness.

"Sit like me," Aqua suggested. Ventus twisted his torso and pelvis around until their poses were identical. "Better?"

"Not as much as I'd like," he said.

"If any part of your body feels tense, relax it," the blue-haired apprentice told him.

Ven gradually let his shoulders drop some, and worked on easing the muscles in his neck. "Wow, that is better."

"Try to focus on something else, too," Terra grumbled, wishing the others would just sit still and be quiet.

Ventus let his thoughts wander, eventually settling on an image of the night sky from the highest spot in the Land of Departure. In his mind's eye, meteors zoomed across the black expanse of sky, and he drifted off into an almost sleeping state. On the far edges of his mind, he wondered what the others were thinking about.

Before he knew it, Master Eraqus was back, announcing that they could get up and would begin training after breakfast.

Ven shoved one last cinnamon bun into his mouth as the four protégés trooped outside. Eraqus stopped suddenly and Ven bumped into Hana before assuming his position in their line. "Sorry," he whispered.

She simply stood at attention while their Master spoke. "We are going to work on combat training today," he informed his students, pacing back and forth in front of them, "for Hana's benefit, seeing as she has never trained with us before now. Terra, Aqua, I would like the two of you to pair up with each other. Hana, you'll be sparring with Ventus. If you require it, feel free to use your armor."

Hana bowed, but shook her head politely. Clearly she didn't think she needed it. She and Ventus moved away a bit to give Terra and Aqua some room and all four summoned their Keyblades. Ven spun Wayward Wind around in his grip a few times while he waited, then stopped, deciding to see what Hana's weapon looked like. It had a heart-shaped handle made of what looks like white feathers, and the slender shaft started out white but was colored silver toward the end. The teeth were shaped like the spiky part of a drawing of a fireball. The keychain was also shaped like a fireball. She looked curiously at the reversed way he held his Keyblade, with it pointing behind him instead of towards the opponent.

"You may begin," Eraqus said, after seating himself on a nearby boulder.

Terra immediately charged Aqua, and she sent up a blue crystalline barrier as she cart-wheeled out of the way. For only a second, Ven was distracted by his friends as they thrust, grunted, and slashed at each other. Hana seemed oblivious to their noise, however, and never took her eyes off of Wayward Wind.

The two of them flashed towards each other, then clanged Keyblades and broke apart, bouncing back to and fro for a full five minutes. Ven's eyes were wide with anticipation and curiosity. He couldn't believe it. Hana was almost as fast as him. Wait- where'd she go?

Suddenly, he had a mouthful of dirt, and there was pressure on his back. Aqua and Terra froze in astonishment, unable to believe what had happened. Ven spat and craned his neck around. Amazingly, Hana was sitting on his back, Keyblade pointed at his unprotected neck. He shook his head in shock. "Alright, you win," he muttered at last.

Eraqus chuckled and helped them both to their feet. "Congratulations Hana," he smiled at the youngest protégé, "I do believe that is the fastest I've seen anyone take Ventus down. I'm very surprised at your agility level."

She dipped her head in contentment and sat next to Eraqus's rock, eyes riveted on Terra and Aqua as they continued their fight. Ven grumbled about beginner's luck, but took a seat on his Master's other side to watch his friends.

Terra jumped back as Aqua brought a downward slash where his shoulder had been and sent a front jab at her with Earthshaker. She brought Rainfell up to block and used her free hand to freeze the ground a bit under Terra's feet. He skidded back a pace and shot a fireball at her, then countered with a side swipe from his blade.

Aqua back-flipped out of the way and sliced upward with her weapon, effectively striking home on his arm and causing him to shift his weight, because their Keyblades were no good for this close of a range.

Spinning on one heel, Aqua used the butt of Rainfell to knock Terra backwards, and he breathed heavily, his eyes flashing in anger. He brought Earthshaker around and sliced across her fighting arm, forcing her to switch her blade to the non-dominant hand. Ven could clearly see that that would be a big disadvantage for her.

Terra was relentless, swinging his Keyblade at her from all different angles so quickly that she had no time to counter. It was all Aqua could do to block his attacks. Forced to switch to the defensive, she didn't even notice when Terra brought his open hand around and shot a fireball right at her.

Knocked to the ground, Aqua tried to raise her Keyblade to defend from the downward strike that would've smashed right into her head, had their Master not intervened.

"Enough," Eraqus shouted. Terra's hand twitched to the side, and his weapon came crashing down in the grass less than an inch away from Aqua's body. "Terra, Aqua, I let this continue to see what would happen, and while I am impressed at your skills, I am very disappointed. The two of you practically killed each other," he growled.

Terra bowed lower than usual, placing a hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry Master. I don't know what came over me."

Eraqus pulled Aqua to her feet. "Be that as it may, I did not train the two of you to be so very bloodthirsty," Eraqus pulled Aqua to her feet and placed a hand on her cut arm. "Cure."

Green sparks sank into her skin and the blood dried up as the injury healed itself. Aqua looked crestfallen at her Master's words. She bowed gracefully, and did not rise for a long time. "I'm sorry as well Master. I should have stopped the battle myself when I noticed Terra going too far."

Ven jumped up. "Don't blame yourself Aqua!" he shouted. "There's no way you could have stopped him when you were so busy trying to defend yourself!"

Eraqus stroked his graying goatee. "Ventus is correct Aqua," he said calmly. "There was nothing you could do. All of you are dismissed for now. We will commence with more training later. I suggest you rest up, for we will be working late into the night."

The four apprentices trudged back to the castle in silence, after a chorus of "Yes Master"s from all but Hana, who still hadn't spoken to a single one of them. Ventus began to wonder if maybe the trauma of losing her previous Master had caused her to become a mute.

_**If you haven't already guessed, this entire fic will be from Ven and Hana's perspective, but mostly Ven's. Also, if anyone wants to give me ideas for future chapters, that would be much appreciated, because I get blocks so very often. **_

_**And if anyone has an idea of what Hana's Keyblade Glider should look like, I have no ideas whatsoever for that, and it's going to be needed for later chapters. So if you have an idea for the shape/design, please tell me!**_

_**As always, please review! Reviews are like little chocolates filled with love, and I really enjoy seeing what you guys have to say.**_


	3. Silence Broken

_**Title: **_Silence Broken

_**Warnings: **_Some minor Birth by Sleep spoilers, but seeing as it's pre-BBS, there shouldn't be too many. Hey, I can't catch everything. Also, being pre-BBS, like probably two months or so, there _may_ be certain parts that make Ven seem a bit young.

_**Special Notes: **_Thank you so much to Divine Wolfe, even though she may not realize it. Just by reading her Disciples of the Keyblade story I have gotten a lot better at making them not too OOC-ish, in my opinion. Also huge thanks to my best friend animechaquita34 for drawing a picture of Hana for me. I love you girl!

Ventus peered around a tree, then put a finger to his lips without turning his head. "Shh."

Silence. Ven mentally slapped himself, remembering that Hana was the one person who never needed to be reminded to be quiet. After all, for the two days she had been here so far, she hadn't spoken a word.

The night was pitch black with a new moon, the only light coming from the hundreds of stars overhead. Eraqus had thought it a good idea to send them on a game of Capture the Flag for their training, and had once again paired Hana with Ven. He secretly wondered if the Master thought they liked each other. Ven shook his head to clear those thoughts, then went back to scouting out the area. Terra and Aqua were nowhere to be seen, but their gold flag flapped in the wind at the top of a light fixture. "Cake," muttered Ven, and bent down, ready to run.

A hand pressed in front of him, holding him back. He turned to Hana, who shook her head. Ven realized she was right. There was no way it would be that easy. But hey, he was the fastest of all four apprentices. "I can outrun them easy if they try to catch me," he protested.

She shook her head again. "What?" Ventus asked, impatient.

Hana looked onward, and a blast of fire shot directly toward the golden flag. Ven gasped as it was bounced back by a crystal barrier. In the low lighting he hadn't even seen it, but the reflection of the Fire attack showed him it stretched from the flag all the way to halfway to the woods. Aqua must be nearby for a blockade that big to last for so long. "How did you-"

She covered his mouth with a hand and put a finger to her lips, then pointed. Terra was slinking towards them around the edge of the 'playing field'. Ventus nodded. "I'm on it. I'll distract them and you find a way to get that flag."

He turned and bent low, into a running position. "V-Ven...tus."

Ven grabbed a tree trunk to steady himself at the shock of hearing her speak for the first time. Hana had a soft lilting voice, like the tinkling of a bell. It was barely more than a whisper. "Ventus. That's...your name, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Hana, it is. But you can call me Ven."

"Ven, be careful."

"I will," he said, shooting out of the woods towards Terra. The two boys summoned their Keyblades at the exact same moment, and the heads of the two swords clanged in a loud bang. A ball of fire shot towards Ven from the shadows beneath the castle's spires, but he easily dispersed it with a small gust of wind.

Hana mentally checked herself to make sure she was prepared. Keyblade at her side, she zipped to the edge of Aqua's barrier. Using the dark of night as a cover, she set to work trying to find an opening. Ugh, if only she could remember the counter-spell! She placed one hand on the blockade and closed her eyes. "Reflect," she murmured.

A small pink barrier of her own formed around Hana's fingers, and she was able to shove it through Aqua's shield. Once inside, the pink sphere expanded until it was holding open a hole in the blue sphere and completely coating Hana at the same time. She stepped inside the larger barrier and ran towards the flag.

Ven spotted her bright curls bobbing along, closer and closer to the flag. He pumped a fist in the air. "Alright Hana!"

Aqua jumped out of her hiding place and ran towards her opponent, the blue shield disappearing as she went, no longer needed.

Terra shoved Ventus out of the way and followed Aqua in the direction of their flag. _I will _not_ lose_, he thought angrily.

"AAaaagghhhhh!" Ven shouted as he jumped on Terra's back and locked his arms around the brunette's neck, hoping to prevent him from getting any closer to Hana so that she could grab their flag.

"Fire!" Hana sent a blast at Aqua, who stopped short in surprise. Whether the shock was from the sudden attack, or from hearing Hana speak, Ven didn't know, because suddenly he and Terra were back in wrestle mode.

Luckily Aqua cart-wheeled out of the way just in time, and was unhurt. "Reflectara!"

A blue ball of light shot towards Hana and became another blue barrier, trapping the newest apprentice inside.

Hana held up her Keyblade so the teeth of it were pressing against the top of the bubble. "Aero!"

A blast of wind swept across the land, effectively causing Aqua to lose her concentration and the barrier broke. Hana leapt upwards and did a mid-air summersault, landing next to the light where the flag was attached. She tossed her Keyblade up and it cut through the rope holding the flag to the fixture. Clutching it in her hands, Hana waved the gold material over her head.

Ven jumped for joy. "Yeah!"

Eraqus stepped down from the stairs leading into the castle, clapping his hands slowly. "Well done Ventus and Hana. You are wonderful at improvising, and your strategic methods are very impressive as well."

The four Keyblade Disciples bowed to their teacher. "Thank you, Master," Ven and Hana chimed.

"Now go rest up, it's almost dawn," Eraqus advised.

"Yes Master," the four recited dutifully.

As they raced to their rooms, Ven stopped Hana in the hall. "You never told any of us your Keyblade's name," he pointed out.

"It's...Flame Dancer," she replied quietly, then shut the door to her room.

Moments later Ven layed back on his bed, and couldn't help but wonder. _My name...is that the first thing Hana's ever said while living here?_

_**Okay, sorry this one was kinda short, I had a block and couldn't figure out how to make the 'training exercise' be written any longer. Hope you don't mind! **_

_**Um, if you didn't notice already because of this chapter, Hana's chosen element is fire, and she's pretty good with magic too. Not as good as Aqua for sure, but it's definitely one of her strong points.**_

_**And if anyone guessed already, I AM trying to do somewhat of a TerraxAqua, but it shouldn't be TOO noticeable. I'm kinda just trying to hint at that pairing.**_

_**Please review! Reviews are love and they really make my day.**_


	4. Connection

_**Title: **_The Connection

_**Warnings: **_Teen getting hit in the head. Poor teen.

_**Special Notes:**_ I must give credit where credit is due. A _huge_ thank you to my good friend The Most Powerful of Keyblades. I couldn't have finished this chapter without you!

Hana stood with her back to the door and waited for the gentle click that meant Ventus had gone into his room. She slid down until she was clutching her knees, and banged her head against the door softly. Twice. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"_V-Ven...tus," _she thought back to earlier. _"Ventus. That's...your name, right?"_

_Gyaah!_ She shrieked inside her head. _Of _course _that's his name! You've only been paired up with him for training twice already!_

A single drop of moisture fell into her hands. She wasn't normally _this_ quiet. She should've at least had a semi-decent conversation with her three new training partners by now. But when she was face-to-face with Ven, she just got so...tongue-tied. She lowered her head into her hands. _God, why does he have to be so cute?_

Hana stood and collapsed on her bed. She slid the white blankets up to her nose and stared at her room. It was plain, undecorated, since she had only been here a short time. Everything she had owned previously had been lost in an accident, so she didn't even have any pajamas. _I'll have to ask Aqua if I can borrow a pair._

Sighing, Hana closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

Hana stared at the ripples she was making in her hot chocolate with her spoon, spinning it around and around. Her scrambled eggs had gone cold on her untouched plate. Aqua smiled at her kindly, and reached across the table to pat her reassuringly on the hand. "Anything wrong?" the blue haired protégé asked.

Hana scraped her fork along her plate forlornly, making swirls in her maple syrup, and shook her head no.

Terra took a big bite of his waffles. "Let's hurry up. We don't have all day just to eat."

Ven locked his hands together behind his head. "I'm finished."

Aqua looked at his plate disapprovingly. "You didn't touch your orange."

"I don't like oranges!" he complained.

Hana downed her hot chocolate- or rather, cold chocolate- and stood. Without a word, she turned and walked out of the castle towards the training grounds.

Noticing they should get a move on, Terra followed suit. "Sheesh, what's with them today?" Ven asked.

Aqua shook her head. "I have no idea. Come on, the Master's probably waiting."

Hana clutched her forehead. "Ouch," she murmured.

"Sorry!" Ven called from across the field, where he was still trying to get an Aero through an ice ring suspended in midair. It had bounced off the solid hoop, gone astray, and smacked into Hana, knocking her a few feet away.

They were practicing magic control, trying to get different spells to go to and hit in precise locations. Ven had been struggling with the ring challenge all morning. Aqua was four levels ahead, learning combat magic alongside Terra from their teacher. Hana tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Ven to get his spell through the hoop so she could have her turn.

"Okay, Aero isn't working well, let's try-" Ven held his Keyblade up in the air. "Blizzard!" A small icy sphere burst from the tip of the blade before clanging into the ring and tipping through it. "Yeah!" He jogged over to the next challenge, infusing different spells with Aero to make elemental tornadoes.

Hana pointed Flame Dancer at the hoop and muttered "Fire." A small circle of flame shot directly through without so much as touching the ring and she walked casually over to Ven.

He was doing fine with the tornadoes themselves, his chosen element being wind, but couldn't seem to get other spells to fuse with them. Hana tugged on his sleeve. He turned to her curiously, his twister disappearing with a burst of air. "Huh?"

She pointed to their two weapons. "Together," she whispered.

Ven looked down at Wayward Wind, then at Hana's blade. He nodded once. "Okay."

The duo raised their Keyblades together, letting the tips touch.

"Aero!"

"Fire."

A red flaming whirlwind sputtered into existence, twirling across the ground without burning the grass. Ven grabbed Hana's hand in excitement and squeezed. Then, looking down at their intertwined fingers, he dropped her hand, face turning slightly pink.

"We-" he cleared his throat awkwardly. "We did it."

She nodded, looking away quickly to watch Terra and Aqua. The two older apprentices stood a few feet away from each other, mumbling incantations. A Thunder spell rained down over Aqua's head, but she brought up her Reflect barrier to block it. She held out her Rainfell and an orb of blue light gathered at the tip. Hana realized it was a giant bubble and dozens of smaller bubbles broke off to chase Terra around. He blocked and dodged her Bubble Blaster attack until her large bubble dispersed.

Hana clutched at Ven's jacket, tugging him away from the fight to do their next training exercise. He turned to look at the moving targets in the trees. It was a simple enough task: hit all the 'evil' targets without burning the forest to the ground or 'hurting the innocents'.

Ven bit his lip and gripped his blade hilt with both hands for maximum control. Using Blizzard spells, he knocked over three monsters, but also accidentally hit an old woman. Hana stifled a laugh. "Poor grandmother," she murmured.

He looked at the hole his ice block had made in the old lady's chest and frowned. But a moment later, he was cracking up alongside Hana. "Oops," he said, wiping a laughter tear from his eye.

'Whump.'

Ven turned and saw Hana sprawled on the ground, unmoving. "You don't have to pretend to be the dead lady!" he joked.

Her shoulders heaved, and a small cry escaped her lips. "Hana?" Ven crouched down and placed a hand on her arm. "Are you okay?" Hana moaned. Ven struggled to get the girl to at least a sitting position.

She clutched at her head, curling into a ball. "I-I can't- there are too many-"

Ven put his hands on her shoulders and held her upright. "Hana, what's wrong? You can't what? There's too many what?" Concern clouded his eyes as pain twisted across her face.

Her eyes closed and she wound her fingers tighter into her hair. "_Aaaggghhhh!_"

"_Hana!_"

_Hana stood clutching her Keyblade as an adult woman watched from a distance. She spun, lunged, and twirled her blade in time to the music in her head, decapitating five straw dummies in a matter of seconds._

"_Firaga." _

_A small projectile shot towards her and she quickly spun on her heel. "Reflect!" A pink spherical barrier blocked the fireball from reaching her and she panted with exhaustion and relief. _

"_I did it!" she crowed in happiness. "Did you see? I finally learned how to use my barrier!"_

_The woman came over and patted her on the head. "Very good Hana. Your training is coming along wonderfully."_

"_Hehe," Hana smiled up at her mentor with twinkling eyes. "Thank you so much for teaching me!"_

_The woman nodded. "Next we're going to learn-" her teacher's mouth continued to move, but Hana could hear no sound._

"_What?"_

_The older female opened her mouth to say something else, but the voice that came out was not her own. "Awake child, and face your destiny."_

"...Master...Yuna..." Hana mumbled in her sleep. She rubbed her eyes, only to spot Ven nodding off in her desk chair, which had been pulled over to her bed. "Ven?"

He shot up in surprise. "Never fight Terra unless you want bruises!" he shouted, startled. Hana put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Huh? Oh! You're awake!"

She sat up, surprised that she was in her room. "How long?"

Ventus scratched his head. "How long...were you asleep?" Hana nodded. "Two days. Terra and Aqua are out on a training mission, but I finished early, so I came to check on you."

Hana stood slowly, her joints stiff from disuse. "That was kind. Thanks."

He scratched the back of his head. "No problem. Anyway, the two of them won't be back until almost midnight, so we're having dinner alone tonight."

"Okay," she nodded, walking out into the hall and stumbling a bit before Ven caught her.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Ven pushed the floral centerpiece off to one side of the long wooden table so he and Hana, who was sitting on the opposite side, could see each other. "So, do you like it here so far?"

"Yes. It's very peaceful in this world," she replied, spinning her fork to get some spaghetti onto it. "I'll never know how you don't manage to get lost in this enormous castle though."

He laughed. "Lots of practice. Don't worry, I can show you anywhere you need to get to."

"Thank you," she nodded, taking a sip of her water. "That's very sweet to offer."

"I couldn't help but notice..." Ven began somewhat awkwardly, "but you don't talk very much."

Hana's cheeks flushed pink. "I'm...a naturally quiet person. Until I really get to know someone, that is," she whispered.

"Get to know me!" he said cheerfully. "I'm loads of fun!"

She giggled. "So I've noticed."

The two of them ate their meal together, talking and laughing the whole night long.

Later, back in bed, Hana thought about her strange vision. '_That woman...was my previous Master. I had forgotten everything when I came here. But...why did that specific memory come back? Why now? Is it because I'm training again?_' Or was it the more impossible... '_Is it because of Ventus?_' Could this other young boy possibly be the connection to her lost memories? She shook her head. "_No. That's just silly._'

_**Yay! I finally got this chapter done! You would not **_**believe**_** how many times I edited and changed this. Hope you enjoyed!**_

_**Congratulations to Howlingwolf26 for spotting my little game last chapter! Yes, I did **_somewhat_** base that part off of Xion in 358/2. But it was mostly because Hana is a shy person, and being around a cutie like Ven makes her even more tongue-tied. Cookie for you Howlingwolf!**_

_**Please review! It makes me ever so happy! And if you have chapter ideas/suggestions, I would **_love_** to hear them. I would be honored to use some of you guys' ideas. (mostly because I have a huge block right now. Not a single idea for chapter four. None, nada, zip, zilch, zero.)**_


	5. Momentos

_**Title:**_ Mementos

_**Special Notes:**_ Okay, I have a _huge_ thank you to give to 1 Sky 1 Destiny 1 Video Game. It's been over TWO YEARS (Oh my god!) since I last updated this story (Agh! Stupid constant writer's block!) and 1S1D1VG gave me a _great_ idea, even if it only took 30 seconds to come up with. Dang, why can't _I_ think of good ideas that fast? Also, I'M DONE WITH THE PICTURE OF HANA! It's on my DeviantArt account, username haswaytoomanyocs. So go check that out!

**Hana: **"I don't think this is necessary to say (seeing how _nobody_ on owns the things their fics are based on) but MeXVen4ever DOES NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS! She only owns me and the events of this fic."

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Ventus looked around at the barren landscape. "What are we doing again?"

"Reconnaissance," Terra told the young blonde for the umpteenth time. "The Master asked me to train you on how to do it, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ven said, putting his hands behind his head and grinning cheekily, although the brunette could not see the smile behind their armor. "So what do I do first?"

Terra pointed to the small village that the hill they stood on overlooked. "Look around and examine what you see."

Ventus nodded seriously, scanning the horizon for a few minutes before turning to his mentor. "There's lots of dead trees, and the houses all look like they're collapsing." Terra shook his head. "What? But that's what I see!"

"Exactly. You're seeing, but you aren't analyzing." He pointed to a cluster of the trees. "The trees look burnt, but some areas are still living. See how the petals are pink? They must be cherry blossom trees. And the houses are falling down but not burnt, even though they're all wooden. That means that whatever destroyed this world wasn't fire. It was probably darkness. The large building next to the dried up waterfall has outdoor pools, so it was most likely a public bathhouse. And the smaller buildings with the chairs and potted plants out front must have been houses."

"How do you know all that?" Ventus asked in awe.

"I don't know, I'm simply coming to conclusions based on what I see," the elder replied. "That's how recon works. You find out information about an area and the people in it, or in this case the people who used to be in it, by analyzing your surroundings."

Ven's gaze settled on another large building. "Can I try with that one?" he asked, pointing it out.

"Sure," said Terra. "Go get a closer look and then come tell me what you've found out."

"All right!" Ventus summoned his Glider and hovered down to the village, dismounting outside the building.

The first thing he noticed was that there was nothing on the outside to make it look like a home, but there was a kitchen off to the side of the entrance. Instead of a living room, there was a large open area with what looked like an obstacle course set up, which looked half falling apart and half brand new, as if the world had been taken by the darkness while it was in use for the first time.

Ventus went farther in, and saw an eating area, as well as a small room for using the facilities. He thought this curious if this building was some type of gym.

Towards the back of the building, Ven struck reconnaissance gold. Two bedrooms! One was clearly for an adult, because if it didn't look burned it would've been perfectly organized and clean. Spotting nothing of importance in it, he moved to the next room.

Amazingly, this bedroom was only very slightly damaged. The walls were blackened in some spots and peeling away, and the bed was now just a metal frame, but he could tell this had once been a child's room. It was messy, and the walls had the faint outlines of flowers burned onto them behind where an empty vase stood on a dresser, as if the darkness had blasted the flowers back onto the wall before vaporizing them. Lying in the middle of the floor as if dropped there was a small brown bear with a single ear and a pink bow around it's neck. It's other ear was slightly singed but other than that it looked undamaged. Ventus picked it up, examining it curiously before noticing the photo on the wall and dropping the bear.

Glass was lying on the floor from where the damage to the world had shattered it, but the picture was miraculously still on the wall. Half was burned away, but he could clearly see a young girl of about seven smiling up at someone. A hand from the person who was burned away rested protectively on her shoulder. The girl had blonde hair, startlingly blue eyes, and was holding a Keyblade. Ven did a double-take and looked closer. She was holding a very _familiar_ Keyblade. It was white and silver with red teeth shaped like fire.

"_Hana_..." he whispered. He frantically looked around the room again, scooping up the bear and the photograph, then running back towards the front of the building.

"_Oof_!" Something knocked into Ventus and he fell back onto the floor, the items from the bedroom falling from his grip. He looked up at what he'd bumped into. It seemed like a giant blue and black blob, but then it reached out a massive arm and punched, knocking the wind out of the young boy. His head fell back, smacking hard on the ground as spots swam before his eyes. Then his vision went black.

Some time later, he blinked the confusion from his eyes, sitting up slowly. He looked around, and the photo was gone. But the bear lay in the hall a few feet away. He snatched it up and ran back to where Terra was waiting.

The older Keyblade apprentice did not look happy. His arms were crossed and he was looking around in worry. When the blonde ran up to him, he sighed in relief, his pose becoming more relaxed. "Are you alright? You were gone so long I was just about to come in after you."

"I'm fine," Ventus confirmed, making sure Terra couldn't see the bear behind his back. "How long was that?"

"A good forty-five minutes. What did you find out?"

"You'll never believe it, but that building was a training school! For Keyblade wielders! I saw bedrooms and a training room and everything!" he cried.

Terra shook his head. "I can believe the part about a training school, but for Wielders? Come on Ven, you know our world is the only one with Masters on it."

"But-"

"I don't think we're going to find out much more from this place," Terra decided. "Let's go report back to Master Eraqus."

Ventus knew he should tell Terra about Hana's bedroom, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to mention it. He shrugged, summoning his wing-board Glider, and followed Terra's motor-bike Glider back to the Land of Departure.

While the older boy went to debrief their Master, Ven went to go find Hana. He had entirely expected to find her in her bedroom, but to his astonishment she wasn't there. He looked around at the room she'd been given in the castle. It was much larger than her room back in her old world, but to Ventus it felt barren and empty. The walls were stark white, the closet was empty, and there were no personal touches to show that anyone even used it. Compared to the room he had seen earlier, this place seemed depressing and dank, like a prison. He held the bear out in front of him, examining how the room would look with a few of Hana's favorite items in it.

"Ven?"

He turned around, instinctively keeping the bear out of sight. "Hana? Where were you?"

"...Training. Aqua was helping me with some...stuff," she said cautiously.

"Oh, that's cool."

"What's up?" Hana asked. "Why are you in my room?"

Ven held out the bear. "Do you recognize this?"

Hana reached out and grasped it gingerly, like it might blow up in her face. "Michiru...?" She looked up at him, eyes full of desperation. "Where did you get this?" she demanded.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "You used to live there, didn't you?" he asked. "On the world Terra and I went to today. I saw your old room, and a photo of you when you first learned to summon your Keyblade." He looked up, starting when he saw her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Cherry Springs," she said. "That's what they called it. I...I can't remember much else. It's coming back so _slow_," she moaned, a tear making a wet track down her cheek.

Ven stepped forward and hugged the small girl comfortingly. "It's ok."

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_**Hana: **My bear! He brought me my bear! Michiru I missed you so much! *hugs bear*_

_**MeXVen4Ever:** That is so cute and sweet. :3_

_**Anyway, please review you guys! It gives me more motivation. And I know you guys want more chapters out because it's been so long. Again, soooooo sorry about that long break. Don't kill me! *ducks***_


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